Constituency : Edinburgh West 2010-15
The 2010 election was a mixed bag to say the least. After a difficult time following Charles Kennedy's removal and the revival of the Tories, the Liberal Democrats went into the campaign on the defensive but their hopes rocketed after Nick Clegg's first appearance in the televised leader's debate brought high poll ratings. Over the course of the campaign, that was whittled down though the vote share was slightly up on 2005. However, the party suffered a net loss of 5 seats largely due to expenses and popular incumbents stepping down. The result left the party in the difficult position of having a hung parliament but only one realistic option, some form of co-operation with the Conservatives.
Mike took over from John Barrett at Edinburgh West after a hard-fought selection battle.
Mike was educated at Perth High School and Edinburgh University. He was a police officer for eight years before switching to systems development. He stood for Edinburgh North and Leith in 2005 coming a close second. In 2007 he contested the same constituency in the Scottish parliament elections but again came second.
Mike became PPS to Michael Moore but resigned in order to vote against tuition fees. He was the victim of a prank whereby an impostor appeared on Radio Four's The World At One although what he said - in an English accent - pretty much chimed with Mike's position.
In 2015, Mike actually increased his vote but was defeated by the huge swing from Labour to the SNP.
Mike subsequently set himself up as a lobbyist but since 2016 has been working for the Scottish government on a major IT project around digital identity assurance.
He is now 53.
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